old lady seeking a answer please help

i have a 93 chevy cavalier rs. and my dome lights work, but my dash lights, my shift lights and my heater gage lights all went out. what do i do. please help me if you can.

I have the same car... I might be able to help you out.
Take a look under the dash on the driver's side, near the hood release lever. You'll find the fuse panel. There might be a cover over it, but it should be clearly marked. Mine doesn't have cover, I think it broke off or something.
Take a look at the fuses in the fuse box.
http://www.citfuse.com/Photos/auto%20fuse.JPG
You're looking for a fuse that's blown. You'll be able to see it because it'll probably be black underneath the fuse amp rating text.
http://www.edmunds.com/media/ownership/howto/fuse/fuse.5.350.jpg
The diagram above shows how to tell a blown fuse after you've pulled it out. The fuse for the dash lights should be a 10 or 15 amp fuse.
If you find a blown fuse, take it to a full service gas station, they usually have a rack of fuses that you can match to the blown fuse you need to replace.
This can easily be done yourself. Removing the fuse can be done with your fingers, no tools required. Just make sure that you put the fuse back in the same place. When I first had to replace fuses in my car, I drew up a quick diagram. This is probably overkill, but whatever works for you.

Oh yeah, and this video can help if you're a visual learner:
Edmunds.com Video - Replace Fuses (http://www.edmunds.com/cgi-bin/videoed080.cgi)

Let me know how it goes... :grinyes:

yea its a fuse .. same thing happened to me..

100% sure its a fuse

You're definitely on the right track to being a responsible car owner. Asking around for help can save you a lot of cash.
Say you took your car to a garage, and it was the fuse, and only the fuse, they'll still charge you an hour shop labor.
Cavaliers are dependable cars, if you take care of them.